Oxygenated derivatives of 4, 6-pregnadiene-3, 20-dione



GENATED DERIVATIVES F4,6 PREG- NADlENE-3,20-DIONE RaymoimM. DqdsomPark Ridge, and Robert c. Tweit, Wilmette, Ill., as'signorsto G. D. Searle & Co., Chicago,

11]., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing. Application February 17, 1959 set-tame. 793,670

.5 Claims. (Cl. 260-4973) wherein Y is a methylene radical whenX is an a -hydro xy radical, and'Y is selected from the group consisting of {hydroxymethylenev -(lower a1kanoyloxy)methylene, and carbonyl radicals. when X is hydrogen. The radicals comprehended by the term lower alkanoyl are formyl, acetyl, propionyl, butyryl, valeryl, caproyl, enanthyl, capryl'yl, and branched-chain isomers thereof, said 'alkanoyl radicals being the acyl radicals of alkanoic acids containing fewer than. nine carbon atoms.

The l4e-hydroxy and 15-hydroxy-4,6-pregnadiene- 3,20-diones of the presentinyention are prepared'from progesterone by'a two-stepprocess; The first step consists of a fermentative hydroxylation of progesterone with the appropriate organism, followed by isolation of the product to yield a dihydroxyprogesterone. For example, a fermentation mixture containing progesterone is incubated with the organism Mucor hiemalis N.R.R.L. 2684 United States Patent 2,924,611 Patented eh. 9, 1960 2. t r ing '7-acylthio-4=pregnene-3,20 diones, disclosed" in appli cants"p'ending application SerialNo. 732,453, filed May 2, 1958. The latter compounds are potent anti-inflammatory and progestational agents.

This inventionwill appear more fully from the examples which follow.- These examples are set'forth by way'o'f illustration only and it will be understood that the invention is not to be construed as limited in. spirit or in scope by the details contained therein, as many modifications in materials and in methods will be apparent from this disclosure to those skilled in the art. In these examples temperatures are givenin degrees centigrade C'.) and quantities of materials are expressed in parts by weight unless otherwise noted;

EXAMPLE 1 a I 14a-hydr0xy-4,6-pregnadiene-3,20-di0ne 12 parts of concentrated, hydrochloric acid in 25,000

parts of tap water. Five parts of an anti-foaming agent, suitably of a silicone type, are added and the contents of'the vessel are sterilized by the addition of live steam under pressure to a temperature of about 110-120" and and the product isolated to' afford 7a,14a-dihydroxyprogesterone. The second step consists of dehydration of the dihydroxyprogesterone by treating the latter with a solution of an alkali hydroxide in methanol and isolating the product, resulting inthe hydroxy-4,6-pregnadiene- 3 ,20i-diones of'the' present invention. As a specific example, 7a,l.4a-dihydroxyprogesterone is treated with a solution of potassium hydroxide in methanol and the product isolated to afford 14m-hydroxy-4,6-pregnadiene- 3,20-dione.

Oxidationof 15B hydroxy-4,6-pregnadiene-3,20-dione, for example with chromium trioxide in pyridine solution, results in 4,6-pregnadiene-3,15,20-trione, also a compound of this invention.

The 15-alkanoyloxy-4,6-pregnadiene-3,20-diones of the present invention are prepared by treating the corresponding alcohol with an alkanoic acid anhydride, and isolating the product. For example, treating 15-hydroxy4,6- pregnadiene3,20-dione with acetic anhydride in pyridine solution and isolating the product yields l5-acetoxy-4,6- pregnadiene-3,20-dione.

The compounds of the present invention possess valuable pharmacological properties in consequence of their anti-hormonal activity. They inhibit the sodium-retaining activity of desoxycorticosterone. They are useful also as intermediates in the preparation of the corresponda final volume, of about 30,000 volumes. The contents of the fermentor are cooled and inoculated with a spore suspension of Mucor hiemalis N.R.R.L. 2684. The contents of the fermentor are kept agitated by a stirrer operating at about 200. to 300 revolutions per minute. A stream of sterilized air is introducedthrough an inlet tube into the contents of the fermentor at a rate of 20,000 to 35,000 volumes of air per minute, measured by means of a rotameter placed in the sterileportion of the air line. Growth of the-organism is allowed to. continue for 46 hours at a temperature of about 25 During this period of incubation, additional small portions of anti foam agent are added as necessary. A solution, of 10 parts of progesterone in 600 parts of ethanol is' added and fermentation in thepresenceof the steroid substrate is continued for an additional 20* hours at 25 with the same rates of stirring; and aeration. The contents of the fermentor are stirred with. 24,000 parts of, methylene chloride for 1 hour. The mycelium is thenseparated by filtration and washed with about twice its volume of met-hylenechloride. The methylene chloride extractslare combined and concentrated under reduced pressure to about 600'parts. by volume, filtered and further concentrated to dryness. The residue is triturated with ether, followed by warm acetone-ether, to remove 6,1,4 dihydroxyprogesterone, and the residue crystallized from methanol-acetone to yield 7a,14u-dihydroxyprogesterone, M.P. 234-238.

A solution of 2 parts of 7a,14e-dihydroxyprogesterone, 3 parts of potassium hydroxide and 400 parts of methanol is. allowed to stand, overnight. The reaction mixture is niade'neutral with acetic acid, concentrated in. vacuo to,2,5 parts by volume, diluted with100 parts of water and the precipitate 'of '14a hydroxy 4,6-pregnadiene 3,20- dione which forms is recovered; M.P. 177-178.

EXAMPLE 2 1SpI-hydroxy-4,6pregnadiene-3,20-dione A stainless steel fermentation tank having a capacity of about 400,000 volumes is charged with a solution prepared by boiling 1200 parts of a commercial cottonseed meal flour, 500 parts of corn steep liquor and 50 parts of concentrated hyrochloric acid in about 20,000 parts of tap water. The resulting solution is cooled and filtered. Five-thousand parts of dextrose and 10 about 25.

, is allowed to stand for 60 hours.

isjmade neutral with 3 parts of acetic acid and concenparts of an anti-foam agent, suitably of a silicone type, I

are added and the volume is brought up to 180,000 volumes in the fermentor. The contents of the vessel are sterilized by the addition of live steam under pressure through an inlettube at the rate from 40,000 to 50,000

volumes of air per minute. This rate of aeration is measured by means of a rotameterplaced in the sterile portion of the air line. Growth of the organism is allowed to continue for 52% hours at a temperature of During thisperiod, additional amounts of anti-foam agent are added as required. A solution of 50 parts of progesterone in 1200 parts of ethanol is added and fermentation in the presence of the steroid substrate iscontinued for an additional 13 hours. The mycelium is separated in a basket type centrifuge and washed. withabout twice its volume of methylene chloride. The aqueous filtrate is extracted twice by stirring with, portions of methylene chloride of approximately 130,000 parts. The methylene chloride extracts are combined and reduced to about 8,000 volumes by dis- 'tillation of the solvent at atmospheric pressure. The concentrate is filterd and reduced to about 670 volumes by [distillation at atmospheric pressure and then in vacuo to dryness. The residue is triturated with petroleum ether, ether and acetone and the residue crystallized from acetone 'to yield 7B,ISB-dihydroxyprogesterone, M.P. 226-228; specific rotation +122; ultra-violet extinction coeflicient 15,900 at 240.5 millimicrons.

A solution of 2 parts of 7,8,15B-dihydroxy-progesterone and 2 parts of sodium hydroxide in 400 parts of methanol The reaction mixture trated in vacuo. The residue is diulted with water and the solid collected and crystallized from acetone to yield lp hydroxy-4,6-pregnadiene-3,20-dione; M.P. 214-216; ultra-violet extinction coeflicient 26,300 at 284'millimicrons.

' EXAMPLE 3 4,6-pregnadiene-3,15,2O trione EXAMPLE 4 ISfl-acetoxy-4,6-pregnadiene-3,20-dione A mixture of 1 part of 15,3-hydroxy-4,6-pregnadiene- 3,20-dione, parts of acetic anhydride, and 20 parts of pyridine is warmed on the steam bath to achieve solu- 7 tion, then allowed to stand at room temperature for 1 week. The solution is poured into water-f the" resultant mixture neutralized with sodium carbonate and extracted with methylene chloride. The extract is washed with 5 water and evaporated to dryness in vacuo. Chromatography on silica gel followed by elution with a 10% ethyl acetate-90% benzene solution aflords- 1'5fl-acetoxy- 4,6-pregnadiene-3,20-dione. This material exhibits a maximum in the ultra-violet at about 284 millimicrons and posseses maxima in the infra red at about 5.7, 5.8, 6.0, 6.2, 6.3 and 8.0 microns.

EXAMPLE 5 p I5,8-valeryloxy-4,6-pregnadiene-3,20-dione A solution of 1 part of l5p-hydroxy-4,6-pregnadiene- 3,20-dione and 18 parts of valeric anhydride in 30 parts of pyridine is heated on the steam bath for two hours, thenallowed to stand at room temperature for l0. days, The reaction mixture is diluted with water, neutralized with sodium carbonate and extracted with methylene chloride. The organic layer is washed with water and evaporated to dryness in v acuo leaving a residue which is purified by chromatography on silica gel followed by elution with an ethyl acetate-benzene solution resulting in pure fl-valeryloxy-4,6-pregnadiene-3,20-dione. This material possesses a maximum in the ultra-violet at about 284 millimicrons and maxima in the infra-red at about 5.7, 5.8, 6.0, 6.2 and 6.3 microns.

EXAMPLE 6 1Sa-hydroxy-4,6-pregnadiene-3,20-dione A solution of 5 parts of lSa-hydroxyprogesterone, 5 parts of chloranil, and 0.1 part of p-toluenesulfonic acid monhydrate in'450 parts of xylene is heated at reflux for 3 hours. The reaction mixture is chromatographed on silica gel and eluted with a 40% ethyl acetate- 60% benzene solution. Removal of the solvent in vacuo yields 15a-hydroxy-4,6-pregnadiene-3,20-dione which ex- 40 hibits maxima in its ultra-violet absorption spectrum at 283 millimicrons and in its infra-red absorption spectrumat 2.9, 5.85, 6.0, 6.2 and 6.3 microns. f What is claimed is:

1. A compound of the structural formula wherein Y is selected from the group consisting of N 0 references cited. 

1. A COMPOUND OF THE STRUCTURAL FORMULA 